Andrew Vachss, creator of Cross, has for many years been a fierce combatant of child abuse and an outspoken advocate for children's rights. As part of his ongoing work in this field, he has arranged for 2% of the cover price of Cross to be donated to the CIVITAS ChildTrauma Programs at Baylor College of Medicine.

"There's a hell of a difference between fighting child abusers and fighting child abuse," said Vachss. "As warriors, we win some battles against individuals, but we face an implacable enemy in child abuse itself. We are always swimming toward an unreachable horizon, hoping others will take over before we drown. We win some rounds, but we've never had a knockout punch in our arsenal. To me, CIVITAS could be that knockout punch. In all my years on the front lines, nothing has ever offered abused children ... and our whole species ... greater hope."

In addition to the monetary donation, Dark Horse is also placing a full-page informational piece on CIVITAS in the Cross series, beginning with #1. "I hope our readers understand the importance of this program," said Dark Horse publisher Mike Richardson. "And I hope that leads to a larger pool of donations being made to CIVITAS."

Andrew Vachss' Cross is a six-issue series that begins shipping in November. A special introductory "zero" issue is scheduled to ship October 17, the same date as the first issue of the comic-book adaptation of Vachss' latest novel, Batman: The Ultimate Evil. Cross is a mercenary noir comic book, featuring covers by Legend artist Geof Darrow.